Ed Schelegle, a professor in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, explains the use of a "body box" he helped develop. Equipped with speakers to change the pressure inside, the box enables researchers a noninvasive way to measure airway resistance and lung elasticity in monkeys using minimal sedation. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

This is former home of the respiratory disease laboratory. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

This is the new home of the California National Primate Center's new respiratory disease laboratory. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

Rhesus macaque monkeys take a look at visitors and groom each other outside one of 24 half-acre pens at the California National Primate Center. The center is home to 4,900 monkeys, some as old as 36 years old. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

Louise Olsen, inhalation exposure facility manager, speaks with reporters about specially designed chambers inside the California National Primate Center's new respiratory disease laboratory building. With room for up to four monkeys, the building's 12 chambers will be used to expose animals to allergens and air pollutants. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo